BOYS LACROSSE: Cruel finish for Duxbury in Div. 1 final

The Dragons led 2-0 early and 3-2 in the second half Saturday but wound up losing, 5-4, in two OTs to Acton-Boxboro in the state championship game at BU.

James Brooks

BOSTON – It wasn’t the sendoff Chris Sweet wanted for his departing seniors, that’s for sure.

Chris Wiggins’ goal with 1:05 left in the second overtime period Saturday ended Duxbury’s dream of reclaiming the boys lacrosse Division 1 state championship it had won nine times in 11 seasons from 2002-12.

Instead, it was Acton-Boxboro that celebrated a 5-4 win at Boston University’s Nickerson Field.

The Colonials (21-3) stormed the field.

The Green Dragons (19-4) were understandably shell shocked.

Duxbury had played in 11 consecutive state finals before a stunning upset loss to BC High in the first round last spring. The Dragons made it back to the big stage this time but could not bring home the trophy.

“We’re disappointed, there’s no sugar coating that,” said Sweet, the Duxbury coach. “The boys played their hearts out. ... They had tremendous resolve all season. We ran up against a really tough A-B team.”

The Green Dragons started out looking as if they would run away with the title, jumping out to an early 2-0 lead thanks to goals from junior midfielder Niall Dillon and senior midfielder Shayne O’Brien.

With just under 9 minutes left in the second quarter, though, Joseph Biggins put the Colonials on the scoreboard.

Up 2-1 at halftime, Duxbury saw A-B senior attack Hunter Arnold even things at 2-2 by beating standout senior goalie Nick Marrocco just 16 second into the third quarter.

It didn’t take long for Duxbury to regain their lead, however, as senior attack Brendan Burke beat an army of Colonials by himself to put Duxbury ahead again, 3-2.

A-B surged in front again, 4-3, on goals from J.T. Kelly and Wiggins, before Trevor O’Brien knotted it up for Duxbury with 8:34 remaining in regulation.

After a scoreless first overtime, Biggins proceeded to stun the Dragons with his second goal of the contest.

Asked how he planned to address his team after the devastating loss, Sweet said: “I’m going to give them some time. ... It’s going to hurt for a while. They’re tough kids, they’ll move on and they’ll recover. That’s what sports are all about. You learn more from your losses than your wins.”

For Sweet, the hardest part was not so much the loss as it was stepping back and realizing that he had to say goodbye to a senior class that he cared for tremendously.

“These guys were fantastic,’ he said. “I enjoyed every second I was out on the field with them. For me, I’m just going to miss this team, the unity and the cast of characters that came along with it.”

One of the hardest players to replace for the Dragons will be Marrocco; he’s headed to Georgetown to play Div. 1 college lacrosse after being an indispensable part of the squad’s deep playoff run. The netminder helped Duxbury post a miserly 6.21 goals-against average over the last 14 games of the season.

“Nick is going to be tough to replace,” Sweet said, “but we have some good young goaltenders that are ready to take his spot. But right now, I’m not thinking too much about the future. The team will spend some time thinking about this. We’ll all get over it.”